Trulia Hindsight is an animated map of homes in the United States from Trulia. The animations use the year the properties were built to show the growth of streets, neighborhoods and cities over time. View the map »

Discovery Bay

May 18th, 2007

discovery bayDiscovery Bay is part of Contra Costa County in California. It is located on the California Delta waterway. The Delta consists of hundreds of miles of waterways which Discovery Bay is connected to. Watch the amazing shapes emerge from the map of this river delta community. The community features a full-service Marina and Yacht Harbor with launching and storage facilities. The residential properties are composed of townhomes and condominiums, waterfront homes, golf course homes and more.

Formation of a New City

May 18th, 2007

newhallAfter a long process, Santa Clarita finally became an official city in December 15, 1987. There were previous proposals and attempts to create a new county, but they were not successful. The city has grown rapidly the past decades with recent residential contruction, building of new parks, metro stations, new roads and more. Check out the growth of Newhall, which is the southernmost area of Santa Clarita.

SoMa San Francisco

May 13th, 2007

south of marketWatch SoMa’s growth over the past decade. SoMa has grown into a neighborhood of warehouses, loft apartments, art spaces, nightclubs, restaurants, office spaces from an industrial district of factories. Expect more changes to come with the many ongoing plans for redevelopment: Transbay Terminal, One Rincon Hill, Millenium Tower, 300 Spear Street.

The Richest Hill on Earth

May 13th, 2007

butte montanaThe small town of Butte began as a mining town in the late 19th century. Its peak years occurred between the late 19th century to the 1920s, becoming the largest mining town in North America. It became known as the “Richest Hill on Earth”, mining gold, silver and copper. It became famous for its saloons and red-light district. It attracted a diverse community of immigrants from Ireland, Wales, England, Canada, Finland, Austria, Serbia, Italy, China, Syria, Croatia, Montenegro and from all over the US.

To date over 48 billion dollars of wealth has been unearthed from this hill. This extraordinary phenomenon emerged at the height of the industrial revolution when the mining hill became the most concentrated area of industrial machines on Earth. The colossal machines spawned the most influential labor market anywhere, the most ethnically diverse population in the country, the largest red light district in the American West, nine railroads, the largest network of underground workings per square mile in the world (over 10,000 miles of tunneling), more wealth per citizen than any other comparable place up to that time, and a titanic struggle for the hill’s riches by both entrepreneurs and laborers.

from Western Mining History

Urban Decline in Detroit

May 12th, 2007

detroitDetroit saw rapid growth in the first half of the twentieth century as the automotive capital of the world. Its rapid decline began in the 1960s. The city has lost almost half of its population since the 1950s. Detroit has become a symbol of urban decay. Abandoned buildings and overgrown vegatation on structures are pictures of the present state of Detroit. See The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit and this photo album on Flickr.

Las Vegas, USA’s Fastest Growing Major Metro Area

May 12th, 2007

las vegasLas Vegas is located in the Las Vegas Valley, a desert surrounded by the Spring Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Las Vegas serves as the center of one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. Its population has multiplied by a factor of 30 since the 1940s-more than that of any other American city. Las Vegas is renowned for tourism, gaming, a dry and vigorous climate, and an assortment of indoor and outdoor recreational activities. The city is also booming in manufacturing and industrial employment, in the construction of new houses, and in the creation of new service jobs. Watch the city’s rapid growth. A peak in building all the way to the very edges meeting the desert has taken place within the last 5 years.

Focus on Miami

May 12th, 2007

miamiMiami is the seventh largest metropolitan area in the United States. Because of its city limits, Miami is the second-largest city in Florida (after Jacksonville), and the 45th largest city in the United States. Miami’s explosive population growth in recent years has been driven by internal migration from other parts of the country as well as by immigration.

Real Estate Boom
The first real estate boom started in 1896 with the arrival of the railroad. In the 1920s a real estate boom changed the area as new subdivisions and tourist resorts were built. In 1926, a major hurricane hit Miami and building was halted by the stock market crash and the Great Depression. On August 24, 1992 one of the country’s worst disasters caused more than $20 billion in damage when Hurrican Andrew hit Miami-Date County.